STOP Believing Those Lies!

Have you ever found yourself repeating words in your head that started out as a lie but now you are wondering if they’re true? When people call you names do you think, “wow, maybe that is right - maybe I really am like that?”

A few years ago, I got wind that a friend had suggested I was a less-than-friendly type of person. The reason it stung so badly was because I felt like I was actually going out of my way in that particular friendship. It was exactly the opposite of how I felt about myself, and what truly was in my heart.

Instead of reaching out to her, I shrunk back and became bitter. Those words continued to ring in my ears for the better part of two years. It filtered into all of my friendships - old and new. I stopped reaching out to old friends because I had convinced myself that it would never be good enough. I shrunk back from new friendships telling myself “what is the point.” 

I let her words fill my soul.

Have you ever been there?  Has there been a time in your life when you allowed someone else’s words to define who you are? Do you feel stuck there like I did? Let me encourage you today, you do not have to stay there!

Listen, words are powerful. A friend’s words are mighty when they lift us up, affirm us and encourage us. There is nothing like hearing from someone you love that you can, in fact, keep going. But on the opposite end of the spectrum, a friend’s words - or even someone you barely know, for that matter - can remain in your ears for a long time when the words were meant to tear you down.

I let this woman’s words echo in my heart for entirely too long. When that happens, the words begin to snowball and become way bigger (and worse) than they originally were. No matter how long I tried on my own to fight it, they began to define who I was. 

God is so good, and I knew deep down that this yucky person I had built myself up in my mind to be, wasn’t truly who I was. When I finally decided to get a grip, put my big girl panties on and be done with it, I had to realize that this was not her fault. It was mine. And I needed to take ownership of that. The ugly that was filling my soul was MY junk, not just her words. Just to be clear, this was - and still is - a tremendous battle for me. It was not as if a switch flipped and I just felt better, it remains a struggle to this day. 

Satan would love it if he could kill us with our own thoughts, y'all. He would love nothing more than to take one simple sentence that someone said way back when to torture us into thinking we are not worthy to see the light of day, let alone approach the throne of grace with confidence.

Truth be told, when this friend's words rocked me to my core, I was still grieving from my miscarriage. Don't think that was a coincidence, y'all. Satan knew exactly what he was doing, just like he still knows exactly what he's doing. He is crafty and he wants you and he wants me and he wants any woman who's heart is after the Lord. He wants to discourage us and beat us down and make it all seem so real and hard-core and bigger and badder than these simple words were ever intended to be. 

The only way I have found to consistently combat Satan in my thought life is to replace those words with His Truth.

“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” Philippians 4:8

This verse has become a qualifier when thoughts begin to rage in my head. I ask myself: Is it true? Is it lovely? Does it bring honor to myself or that person? If the answer is no, I begin to repeat that verse over and over until my thoughts move on to something else. In my head, y'all - no one likes a crazy person! It sounds so simple, but make no mistake that this is still a hard discipline to put into practice!

Sweet women of the Lord, can we not only work to be gentler with our words but stronger in our sense of self? Can we look for ways to shake Satan loose and inform him of who we are in Jesus?

No matter what words were said or what lies were spread, the Truth is that we are daughters of the King who is not shaken by this world, those words or our lies.

We are loved, we are worthy, we are unashamed and we are His. This is the Truth y’all. No one and no one’s words can take this away from us. May we live in these truths this week!